Africa

File:Africa satellite orthographic.jpg

Satellite image of Africa

Africa is one of the five continents of the Earth and the third largest in area after Eurasia and America.

Africa has a total surface area, including adjacent islands, of 30,243,910 km², corresponding to approximately 20% of the planet's landmass. It is surrounded by the following bodies of water: the Mediterranean Sea separates it from Europe to the north; the Atlantic Ocean washes its western coasts; the Indian Ocean its eastern coasts; the Red Sea bathes the northeastern section, north of the Horn of Africa, up to the Isthmus of Suez, the only point of connection with Asia. Approximately 14% of the world's population lives in Africa.

Located straddling the equator, Africa stretches for 8,050 km from the northernmost point of Cape Blanc (Ras al-Abyad) in Tunisia to the southernmost point of Cape Agulhas in South Africa. The maximum width of the continent, from the Cape Verde peninsula in Senegal in the west to Cape Hafun in Somalia in the east, is approximately 7,560 km. The highest peak is Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in Tanzania, whose summit is perpetually snow-covered; the lowest point is Lake Assal (153 m below sea level) in Djibouti. The African coastline is regular and characterized by few inlets; it extends for approximately 30,500 km and, compared to the land area, has a shorter development than that of all other continents. The main islands belonging to Africa, covering a total area of ​​621,600 km², are Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pemba, Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles, and Comoros in the Indian Ocean; São Tomé and Príncipe and Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea; Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Bijagós, and Madeira in the North Atlantic; Saint Helena and Ascension in the South Atlantic. Although geographically considered part of Africa, Saint Helena, Ascension, the Bijagós Islands, the Canary Islands, and Madeira have economic, political, or cultural ties with Western Europe: Saint Helena and Ascension are colonies of the United Kingdom; the Canary Islands and Madeira are part of Spain and Portugal, respectively.

Territory

Only 10% of the African territory is located at an altitude below 500 meters above sea level, compared to 54% in Europe and 25% in North America. The continent presents itself in the form of a single large plateau, a horizontal, rigid platform without folds, with the exception of the Atlas mountain range in the northwestern section. The differences in altitude, which are nevertheless present, have been caused by fractures and faults that have raised and lowered entire blocks of land.

This explains the formation of the highlands of East and Southern Africa, the deep rift of the Rift Valley, and the extensive subsiding or depressions corresponding to river basins – in particular those of the Congo, Niger, Nile, Volta, and Zambezi – which constitute a prominent characteristic of African geography. At its edges, the African plateau gives way to a narrow coastal strip that encircles the entire continent. All of Africa's major rivers, except for the Niger-Benue and Zambezi-Shire systems, have waterfalls or rapids that hinder inland navigation.

Geological History

The vast African continental platform, composed of archaic, crystalline rock, dates back to the Precambrian period, the same geological epoch in which the Brazilian plateau in South America was formed. It extends south from the Atlas Mountains to the Cape of Good Hope; to the east it reappears in the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar, which separated from Africa during the Cenozoic (Tertiary) period. Within these ancient rocks, however, covered over vast areas by various sedimentary formations, the very first traces of life on Earth have been brought to light: fossil microorganisms dating back 3.2 billion years. Geologically, the Atlas Mountains (in northwestern Africa) are part of the foldings of the Mediterranean area, that is, the ancient Tethys basin. They originated from the same movements that formed the Alpine chain and other "young" mountain ranges of Europe.

The tectonic forces that separated Africa from South America during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, about 150 million years ago, continued to act in more recent times, creating the Rift Valley during the Tertiary period and causing the eruptions that led to the formation of the volcanic cones of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro in East Africa.

Natural Regions

The territory of Africa can be divided into three main sections: the northern plateau, the central and southern plateau, and the eastern highlands. Generally, altitudes increase across the continent from northwest to southeast and average about 560 meters. The coastal plains, with the exception of the Mediterranean and Guinea coasts, are generally quite narrow.

The main characteristic of the northern plateau is the presence of the Sahara Desert, a large desert whose surface occupies more than a quarter of Africa. Several mountainous regions rise at the edges of the northern plateau: to the northwest, the Atlas Mountains, formed by plateaus and steep, alpine-type ranges, extending from Morocco to Tunisia; to the southwest, the Fouta Djallon plateau; to the south, the Adamawa massif and the Cameroon Mountains. The Lake Chad basin, corresponding to a pronounced structural subsidence, is located almost in the center of the plateau.

The central and southern plateau, which is higher, has an average altitude of over 900 meters and includes numerous depressions, in particular the Congo River basin and the Kalahari Desert. To the south rises the Drakensberg Mountains, bordering the southern highlands, which extend for 1,100 km along the southeastern coast of the continent, from Transvaal to the Cape Province. At the extreme south is the Karoo, an arid plateau with a surface area of ​​259,000 km².

The eastern highlands, which constitute the highest part of the continent, extend from the Red Sea southwards to the Zambezi River, along the fault line of the Rift Valley. They have an average altitude of over 1,500 meters and, in the Ethiopian Highlands, reach 3,000 meters; the highest point is Ras Dashen (4,620 m), in northern Ethiopia. South of the Ethiopian Highlands rise numerous volcanic peaks, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and Mount Elgon.

The most characteristic feature of the eastern highlands is the Rift Valley, the long depression (actually a series of fractures with subsidence of the intervening plates) that extends from Anatolia, in eastern Turkey, through the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, and then continues along the Red Sea to Lake Turkana. At the southern end of this lake, the Rift bifurcates around Lake Victoria and then rejoins at one end of Lake Nyasa, from where it descends along the Shire and Zambezi rivers, finally reaching the sea. West of the Rift Valley rises the Ruwenzori massif, which reaches a height of 5,109 m. The island of Madagascar is a continental fragment and is formed by a central plateau that extends in a north-south direction about 600 km from the eastern coast of Africa.

The African territory has been above sea level since the Precambrian era, but for long periods its internal depressions were submerged by the sea. This resulted in the sedimentary formations that cover vast stretches of the original platform, on which erosive forces have acted, leading to the formation of clastic rocks, such as sandstones, and various conglomerates. There are few alluvial soils deposited by rivers, even though the African continent has a hydrographic network with very extensive drainage basins. Being typically tropical, the soils are relatively sterile, lacking humus and subject to leaching due to heavy rainfall, and their composition is influenced by high temperatures. Desert soils, poor in organic content, cover vast areas. Among the most fertile soils are the so-called "chernozems" or black soils of East Africa, and the podzolic soils of the regions of West and Southern Africa.

Hydrography and water resources

Some of the world's largest rivers flow through Africa. The continent's main hydrographic systems are six, and, with the exception of the Lake Chad basin and the Kalahari basin, all flow into the sea (exorheic basins). The Nile River flows through northeastern Africa and, at 6,695 km, is the longest river on Earth. It originates from Lake Victoria and flows north; in the section called the White Nile, it is joined by the Blue Nile, which originates from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. From the confluence of the two rivers, near Khartoum in Sudan, the Nile flows west and then north again before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Congo River, 4,374 km long, drains much of Central Africa; it originates in the Mitumba Mountains, on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and It flows north, west, and south before finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Matadi.

The third longest African river is the Niger (4,180 km), in West Africa, whose upper reaches are navigable only during the rainy season. It originates in the Fouta Djallon highlands and flows north and then east before flowing south into the Gulf of Guinea.

The Zambezi River, 2,650 km long, has its headwaters in Zambia and Angola; both branches converge in Zambia; the river then flows southeast before emptying into the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. The Zambezi is interrupted by numerous rapids and waterfalls, the most spectacular of which are the Victoria Falls.

Southern Africa is traversed by the Limpopo and Orange rivers. The Orange River, into which the Vaal flows, is 2,100 km long, originates in the Drakensberg Mountains and flows west to the Atlantic. The Limpopo, which originates in the Witwatersrand, is 1,800 km long and flows into the Indian Ocean in southern Mozambique.

Lake Chad, with an average depth of only 1.2 m, and its tributaries and distributaries constitute the largest hydrographic system on the continent. It is endorheic, meaning it has no outlet to the sea.

The Rift Valley includes numerous large lakes; among them are Lake Turkana, Lake Albert, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Nyasa. Lake Victoria, the largest in Africa and the third largest in the world, is not part of this system; it extends over a shallow depression in the eastern highlands. One of Africa's major problems is achieving effective control of its water resources. Vast areas are excessively arid, and even larger areas receive only irregular rainfall and must store water to cope with long periods of drought. In the equatorial belt, rainfall is very high; in southern Sudan, there are extensive swamps, and large areas experience periodic flooding. Since the 1950s, many reservoirs and dams have been built to collect water for irrigation and electricity generation.

Climate

Africa's climate is influenced by the continent's location in the tropical zone, the presence of cold ocean currents, and the absence of mountain ranges that act as climatic barriers.

Seven climatic zones can be distinguished. The central part of the continent and the eastern coast of Madagascar have the typical climate of equatorial rainforest environments, occupied by the large rainforest; the average annual temperature is 26.7 °C and the average annual rainfall is 1,780 mm. The climate of the Guinean coast is similar to the equatorial climate, although there is only one rainy season; however, there are no months without rain.

Moving away from the equatorial zone, the rainforest climate gives way to the tropical climate with two seasons, the domain of the savanna, which covers almost a fifth of Africa. Here the climate is characterized by a wet season during the summer months and a dry season during the winter months. Annual rainfall varies from 550 mm to over 1,550 mm. Further north and south, the savanna climate zone gives way to the drier steppe climate. The average annual rainfall varies from 250 to 500 mm, and the rain is concentrated in one season. Vast areas of Africa are characterized by an arid or desert climate: the Sahara Desert in the north, the Horn of Africa in the east, and the Kalahari and Namib deserts in the southwest. In these areas, the average annual rainfall is less than 250 mm. In the Sahara, the daily and seasonal temperature range is very high; the average July temperature is over 32.2 °C; during the cold season, nighttime temperatures often drop below freezing.

Mediterranean climates are found at the northwestern and southwestern extremities of the continent. They are characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. In the highlands of East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Uganda, rainfall is distributed throughout the year and the temperature tends to be constant. In the high plateau of Southern Africa, the climate is temperate.

Flora

African vegetation can be classified according to climatic zones. The rainforest climate zone, where the average annual rainfall exceeds 1,270 mm, features a dense ground cover of shrubs, ferns, and mosses, evergreen plants, oil palms, and numerous species of hardwood trees. The variety of species is extremely high: up to 10,000 have been counted. Some trees grow to a height of up to 60 meters. On the mountains of Cameroon, Angola, East Africa, and Some Ethiopian regions are home to oil palm forests, hardwood trees, and various species of acacia.

A wooded savanna zone, with an annual rainfall of 890 to 1,400 mm, represents the transition from evergreen forest to savannas; in addition to various species of acacia, it is home to baobabs, euphorbias, herbaceous and shrubby plants, deciduous trees, and legumes. In the savanna zone formed by grasslands, with an annual rainfall varying from 500 to 890 mm, where the number of species decreases due to the difficulties imposed by the long dry season, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and low deciduous trees grow.

The next zone, the thorny scrubland, with an annual rainfall varying from 300 to 510 mm, features sparser vegetation of shrubs, succulents, and semi-succulents. The sub-desert scrubland zone, with an annual rainfall varying from 130 to 300 mm, has a grassy cover and scattered low shrubs.

Finally, the desert zone, located in areas where the annual rainfall is less than 130 mm, is characterized by sparse vegetation and, in some areas, is completely devoid of vegetation.

Fauna

In Africa, two major faunal zones can be distinguished: the northern and northwestern zone, including the Sahara, and the Ethiopian zone, comprising all of sub-Saharan Africa. The first is characterized by fauna similar to that of the Eurasian continent, including animals domesticated by man such as sheep, goats, horses, and dromedaries. Wild species include the Barbary sheep, the African deer, and two species of ibex native to the northern African coast. The Sahara Desert is home to the fennec fox, as well as the gazelle and the jerboa.

The Ethiopian region is famous for its great variety of animals and birds, many of which are now endangered. The wooded areas and grasslands constitute the traditional habitat of numerous mammal species, including many herbivores, such as the antelope and gazelle, the zebra, the giraffe, the buffalo, the elephant, the rhinoceros, etc., as well as several species of monkeys. Among the carnivores, which prey on herbivores, are the lion, the leopard, the cheetah, the hyena, the jackal, and the mongoose. The rivers are the habitat of the hippopotamus. In the rainforests of equatorial Africa live the gorilla and other species of monkeys, the flying squirrel, the bat, and the lemurs. Many of these animals, particularly elephants, rhinoceroses, leopards, lions, and gorillas, are now found only in special wildlife reserves, where, however, maintaining the original ecological balance is difficult.

Much of the birdlife is also found in Europe. Among game birds, the most widespread species is the guinea fowl. Waterfowl, particularly the pelican, the giant heron, the flamingo, the stork, and the egret, form very large colonies. The ibis is common in the Nile region, while the ostrich lives in East and Southern Africa. Among the reptiles, mostly of Eurasian origin, are the lizard, the crocodile, and the turtle. Venomous snakes, including the mamba, are found throughout the Ethiopian region. The python lives mostly in West Africa, while the boa constrictor is found only in Madagascar, where many species unique to the world are present. Freshwater fish abound in Africa, with over two thousand known species. The continent is home to numerous harmful insects, in particular mosquitoes, ants, termites, locusts, and tsetse flies, which transmit sleeping sickness to humans and animals.

Mineral Resources

Due to the archaic composition of its rock formations, Africa is the continent richest in minerals on the planet; it possesses them in considerable quantities and varieties, although their geographical distribution is uneven. There are also numerous deposits of fossil fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas. Africa also has some of the largest reserves of gold, diamonds, copper, bauxite, manganese, nickel, platinum, cobalt, radium, germanium, lithium, titanium, and phosphates. Other important mineral resources include iron ore, chromium, tin, zinc, lead, thorium, zirconium, vanadium, antimony, and beryllium.

Population

The Sahara Desert constitutes a dividing line between the areas inhabited by the peoples of North Africa and those of Sub-Saharan Africa; however, the desert has never represented an insurmountable obstacle. This facilitates the exchange and diffusion of cultures between the northern and western regions of the continent. In the past, numerous classification systems have been applied to the continental peoples, many of which were of dubious nature as they were fundamentally based on racist assumptions. Today, geographical division appears to be the most useful for taxonomic purposes.

Ethnography

The northern part of Africa, including the Sahara, is inhabited by Caucasian peoples, mostly Berbers and Arabs, who constitute about 25% of the continent's inhabitants. South of the Sahara live Bantu populations, who represent about 70% of the African population, while some Khoisan tribes, San (formerly called Bushmen) and Khoi-Khoi (the former Hottentots), probably descendants of the most archaic population layers, are found in East Africa. The Pygmies, also descendants of ancient populations confined to the rainforests, are concentrated in the Congo Basin. Originally settled in the southern regions, five million descendants of Europeans now live in Africa. The Indian population, which numbers one million, is mainly settled along the eastern coasts and in South Africa.

More than three thousand ethnic groups have been classified in Africa, among which the extended family institution prevails. In much of the continent, the family is linked to a larger society through kinship groups, such as clans, which tend to exclude endogamous marriages: their members marry outside the group. Often the village consists of a single kinship group of male or female descent.

Demographics

Despite its vast surface area, Africa is inhabited by only 14% of the world's population. In 2008, the continent's population was estimated at 955 million inhabitants, with an average density of 32 inhabitants per km². This figure considers vast, practically uninhabited areas, such as the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, and more limited areas, such as the Nile Valley, where the population density is very high. If we calculate the population living in arable or productive areas, the average density increases to approximately 139 inhabitants per km².

The continent's population is mainly concentrated along the northern and western coasts, in the areas within the river basins of the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Senegal, and on the East African plateau. The most populous country in Africa is Nigeria (138,283,240 inhabitants in 2008).

In Africa, the population growth rate reaches 2.08% per year, compared to a rate of -0.01% in Europe and almost half that (1.07%) in North America. The spread of healthcare services since the Second World War has led to a sharp decrease in the mortality rate, which is 14.20‰, but varies considerably from country to country. In most African countries, about half of the population is under 15 years of age.

The African population is predominantly rural: only 37% of inhabitants live in urban centers. North Africa is the most urbanized region; however, there are individual countries with high levels of urbanization, such as the Republic of Congo (54%), while large metropolises are located throughout the continent. African cities with a population of over one million inhabitants include Cairo (the most populous African metropolis), Alexandria and Giza in Egypt; Algiers in Algeria; Tripoli in Libya; Tunis in Tunisia; Casablanca and Rabat in Morocco; Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria; Douala and Yaoundé in Cameroon; Luanda in Angola; Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; Dakar in Senegal; Conakry in Guinea; Abidjan in Ivory Coast; Accra in Ghana; Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo; Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Mogadishu in Somalia; Kampala in Uganda; Nairobi in Kenya; Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; Antananarivo in Madagascar; Khartoum and Omdurman in Sudan; Lusaka in Zambia; Harare in Zimbabwe; Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria in South Africa.

Urban growth has been particularly rapid since the 1950s. There has also been a significant migratory flow, particularly of Africans from Central Africa, to the mining and industrial districts of countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and of Africans from the northern and western regions to Europe, particularly France and Italy. In recent years, the outbreak of civil wars in some African countries – in Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Sudan, Liberia and Rwanda – This has caused mass displacements of populations, similar to the exoduses caused by droughts and famines. Africa has the world's largest concentration of refugees, including populations that move within their own countries and those that cross borders seeking protection.

Languages

Over a thousand languages ​​are spoken in Africa. Although more than 50 languages ​​have at least 500,000 speakers, most African languages ​​belong to small minorities. Apart from Arabic, the most widespread languages ​​are the so-called "lingua francas": Swahili (especially in East and Southern Africa) and Hausa (East Africa). The main language families are the Niger-Kordofanian and Nilo-Saharan, spoken by over 160 million people; the Hamito-Semitic, or Afro-Asiatic, which predominates in North and Northeast Africa; and the Khoisan, spoken by the San and Khoi-Khoi of Southern Africa. Many Africans, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, are bilingual, speaking both their own language and that of the Europeans who colonized their country.

Religion

Today, Christianity is probably the most widespread religion in Africa. Catholicism was introduced to the northern regions of the continent in the 1st century; in the 4th century it spread to Sudan and Ethiopia, was supplanted in the 7th century by Islam, and only reasserted itself in the 19th century – alongside various forms of Protestantism – due to European conquests and the work of missionaries. The ancient Coptic Church remains in Ethiopia and Egypt. Islam, professed by approximately 40% of the population, was introduced by the Arab conquerors: it initially spread in North Africa and, in subsequent centuries, along the Nile River, the east coast, and in West Africa, following the caravan routes that led to cities (such as Oualata, Timbuktu, etc.) that were both commercial and religious centers. The first Islamic school of law, the Sunni school of the Maliki orientation, predominates in much of Muslim Africa, except in Egypt, the Horn of Africa, and the East African coast.

Approximately 15% of African populations exclusively practice local or indigenous religions, generally animistic, and both Christianity and Islam have assimilated indigenous practices. Several indigenous religious movements have also arisen, born from the fusion with Christian beliefs and rituals. Led by individual prophets, these separatist groups have spread throughout Africa, but their presence appears more extensive and influential in Southern and Central Africa.

Small Jewish communities also live in North and South Africa; among them the Falasha, who until the 1980s were settled in Ethiopia. Minorities of Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist faith are scattered throughout East and Southern Africa.

Culture

Traditional African culture is essentially subordinate to the concept of family and ethnic group. Traditional arts – music, oral literature, and dance – serve to strengthen religious and social bonds. In the past, the highly Westernized elites, influenced by European culture and Christianity, rejected traditional local cultures; however, in the 1960s, after many African countries gained independence, a kind of cultural rebirth occurred, leading to a different attitude towards "African identity." Governments today tend to support national dance and music groups, museums, and, to a lesser extent, artists and writers, even though Western ideas, customs, music, and fashions—through films, radio, television, and travel—have influenced local music, clothing styles, eating habits, and so on, especially among young people.

However, it is important to remember the profound influence exerted throughout the West by African art and music during the 20th century: an artist like Pablo Picasso would have had a very different career without the inspiration he received from African art; North American music itself (blues, spirituals, jazz) cannot be understood without considering the African influence.

For more information on the continent's culture, see the entries African art; African dance; African literature; African mythology; African music.

Economy

Before the colonial era, the African population was engaged in livestock farming, subsistence agriculture, and, to a lesser extent, crafts and trade. Most markets were local, although numerous states had developed long-distance trading systems for centuries. These states were characterized by specialized production, communication and trade networks, and complex governmental bodies that regulated the flow of goods. Among these states were the kingdoms of the Sahel, linked to trade with the Mediterranean across the Sahara, the kingdoms of Ghana, Songhai, Kanem-Bornu in West-Central Africa, and Great Zimbabwe in Southern Africa; trans-Saharan trade, which began before the Roman era, continued until the 19th century.

In Africa, gold, cola nuts, copper, ostrich feathers, and salt were the main export goods for hundreds of years before European colonization. The imposition of European rule, starting in the 18th century, immediately led to an increase in the demand for slaves, required in far greater quantities than in previous eras: this resulted in serious distortions and disruption in the political and cultural life of African societies, as well as the deportation of millions of people from the central and western regions of the continent. Colonization led to foreign demand for new agricultural and mineral products and the internal migration of labor; new and faster communication systems were built, and European technology and crops were introduced, not always to the benefit of the local population. A market economy thus developed. Local industries and crafts – textiles and iron goods, for example – often could not compete with cheaper and more prestigious European goods.

Processing industries developed, as well as new ports and administrative centers imposed by the new organization of the territory and urban lifestyles. Consumer goods industries arose to meet the latest market demands. A distinctive feature of the African economy is the coexistence of subsistence economies and modern market economies. Future growth depends on the availability of investment capital, global demand for local raw materials and the fairness of their prices, the availability of energy sources, the size of local markets, a possible reduction of foreign debt that paralyzes many African economies, and the willingness of industrialized countries to lower trade barriers for goods produced and processed in Africa.

Agriculture

Despite the expansion of trade and industry, Africans remain predominantly employed in agriculture and pastoralism. In North and Northwest Africa, oats, barley, and maize are the most important cereal crops. Dates, olives, and citrus fruits are the main tree crops; numerous species of vegetables are also cultivated. Goats, donkeys, sheep, camels, and horses are the most important livestock.

In the Sahara Desert region, nomadic herders raise camels and goats, and the few farmers settled in the oases cultivate dates and cereals. South of the Sahara, in the Sahel territories and in the more fertile areas occupied by savannas, shifting cultivation – a practice in which small plots are created by burning stretches of savanna, cleared and cultivated, and then abandoned after a few years – is still practiced, but is gradually giving way to stable agriculture. Maize, sorghum, millet, and, along the rivers, rice are the main cereals cultivated in the belt north of the rainforests.

In the wetter forest environments, the production of yams, cassava, and bananas takes over, cultivated especially in the coastal highlands and forest areas of Central Africa; Livestock farming cannot be practiced in these latter areas, which are infested with the tsetse fly, present in about a third of the continent. Traditionally, owning livestock remains an indicator of relative economic and social well-being.

Market-oriented agriculture is widespread throughout the continent. Foodstuffs are produced for local urban markets, while cloves, coffee, pineapples, cotton, cocoa, sugar, tea, maize, rubber, agave, peanuts, palm oil, and tobacco are among the agricultural products that have always been destined for export and industry. In the last twenty years, there has been a significant development in the cultivation of new products for Western markets, especially European ones: green beans, citrus fruits, roses and other flowers, and kiwis. In East and Southern Africa, extensive plantations and agricultural estates, often owned by foreign or European companies, are exploited for the cultivation of citrus fruits, tobacco, tea, and other products destined for export.

Forestry and fishing

Approximately a quarter of the African territory is covered by forests, from which local populations obtain timber used as fuel for domestic purposes; this often causes worrying processes of forest degradation, especially around cities. The production of precious woods, mostly destined for export, is economically important. Gabon is the main producer of okoumé, a wood used in the manufacture of plywood; Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia (before the civil war), Ghana, and Nigeria are the main exporters of hardwood, which is highly sought after by Western markets, but the production areas are now becoming depleted.

Fishing is practiced mainly in the lakes of the Rift Valley; sea fishing is widespread primarily for local consumption and has considerable commercial importance in Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Namibia, Mozambique, and South Africa.

Mineral Resources

Extractive activity represents the most important item for African foreign trade, and the industries in this sector are among the most developed on the continent. Almost half of the revenue from the trade of minerals comes from South Africa, where there is the greatest concentration of gold and diamond mines, as well as chromium, asbestos, coal, and copper.

Other important countries for extractive activity are: Libya (oil), Nigeria (oil, natural gas, coal and tin), Namibia (diamonds, uranium), Algeria (oil, natural gas, iron ore), Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (copper, cobalt, lead and zinc), Zimbabwe (gold, asbestos, coal, chromium, iron ore and nickel) and Ghana (gold, bauxite and diamonds). Oil is also extracted along the West African coast, in the Gabon Basin, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. Rich uranium deposits are found mainly in South Africa, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon. The Democratic Republic of Congo also has the world's largest reserve of radium. Approximately 20% of the world's copper reserves are concentrated in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia also possess 90% of the planet's estimated cobalt deposits, while Sierra Leone has the largest reserves of titanium.

Three-quarters of the world's gold comes from Africa; the main producers are South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana. Iron ore is found in all regions of the continent. Much of Africa's mineral wealth has been and continues to be managed by large multinational corporations. In recent years, African governments have acquired increasingly larger stakes in economic operations within their own countries.

Industry

The extractive industries (minerals and oil) give rise to processing industries, such as refineries and smelters, located in almost all countries rich in minerals and with adequate energy resources. South Africa is the most industrialized of the African countries, although most of them now have more or less developed industrial infrastructures; Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and the North African countries have significant industrial districts.

Heavy industry (metallurgical, mechanical, and transport equipment) is concentrated in Southern Africa and Nigeria. Significant industrial centers have also developed in Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. The mining industries have experienced significant growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia; Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire have primarily promoted the textile, light manufacturing, and construction materials industries.

In other countries, industrial activity is limited to the production or assembly of consumer goods such as shoes, bicycles, textiles, food products, and beverages. Such industries often operate at a reduced capacity due to relatively modest market demand. Attempts by African countries to further develop the industrial sector, especially in the processing of agricultural export products to increase their added value, have been considerably hampered by the protectionism of industrialized countries, which impose heavy tariffs on these goods. Another obstacle to trade is the limited development of communication routes between the countries of the continent, which, built during the colonial era, are structured to serve the interests of individual states.

Energy

Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, and Angola are the main African producers of oil; together with other countries, such as Gabon, they are also exporters. Natural gas exports from Africa are mainly from Algeria. Coal production is concentrated primarily in Zimbabwe and South Africa, although numerous other countries possess significant reserves (for example, Botswana), which are not yet exploited due to a lack of markets. Almost all the coal extracted in Africa is destined for domestic consumption.

The increases in oil prices in the 1970s had negative repercussions for many African countries, as they exacerbated serious problems related to the balance of payments and foreign debt. The continent's high potential for hydroelectric power production is only partially exploited due to the high construction costs, the inaccessibility of the sites, and their distance from markets. However, since the 1950s, the large Aswan Dam on the Nile River has been built, although primarily intended to expand irrigated land, as well as the dam on the Volta River and the Kariba and Cabora Bassa dams on the Zambezi; the grandiose "Water Plan" currently under construction in Lesotho also includes the exploitation of hydroelectric power.

Transportation

The economic development of almost all African nations has been hampered by inadequate transportation systems. Most countries rely on road networks often consisting of rough tracks that become impassable during the rainy season. The road and rail networks built during the colonial period tended to connect inland areas to coastal centers. After decolonization, new road, rail, and air links have been created. Rail and maritime transport systems are more developed in Southern Africa. ===Trade===

The economies of most African countries rely on the export of one or a few products, making them weak and exposed to significant risks. Trade flows are mostly directed towards industrialized countries, which are interested in buying raw materials and exporting industrial and consumer goods. Trade between African states is limited by the competitive rather than complementary nature of their products and, to a lesser extent, by trade barriers (customs duties and exchange rates). A further obstacle is represented by the currencies, which circulate only within each country or certain groups of countries: this forces most transactions to be settled in US dollars or British pounds.

Almost all former British colonies continue to enjoy free trade relations with the United Kingdom and maintain their monetary reserves in London. Former French colonies have mostly maintained close ties with France and belong for the most part to the CFA franc monetary area (African Financial Community). Furthermore, almost all African states have economic relations with the European Union, by virtue of the Lomé Convention, and benefit from reductions in customs duties. Few inter-African economic organizations have been formed and have been successful. The most enduring are the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States; the most successful are the Southern African Development Community and the Preferential Trade Area of ​​Eastern and Southern Africa. The African Union (AU) also promotes trade and economic development among the countries of the continent.

History

Africa is commonly believed to be the cradle of the human race, as evidenced by archaeological discoveries and, in more recent years, by genetic research. Approximately 5 million years ago, a type of hominid, a close relative of modern humans in evolutionary terms, lived in southern and eastern Africa. Over 1.5 million years ago, this hominid, which was capable of making stone tools, evolved into the more advanced forms of *Homo habilis* and *Homo erectus*. *Homo sapiens* appeared in Africa over 200,000 years ago.

The first great African civilization began in the Nile Valley around 5000 BC, where stable settlements based on agriculture emerged, benefiting from the Nile floods for irrigation and the formation of new soils. The need to control the Nile floods gradually led to the establishment of complex state organizations, supported by elaborate political and religious systems. The Kingdom of Egypt maintained relations with other Mediterranean civilizations and, to a lesser extent, with other African civilizations for many centuries. In the upper Nile Valley, the civilizations of Meroë and Axum developed.

In the period between the end of the 3rd century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD, Rome conquered Egypt, Carthage, and other regions of North Africa; these areas became the granaries of the Roman Empire. Roman rule in North Africa ended in the 5th century with the conquest by the Vandals. In the 6th century, the region, reconquered by Belisarius, became part of the Byzantine Empire.

The Era of Empires and City-States

Islamic armies invaded Africa in the decade following the death of Muhammad in 632, and quickly crushed Byzantine resistance in Egypt.

North Africa

From their bases in Egypt, the Arabs invaded the Berber states to the west and in the 8th century conquered Morocco. While the Berbers of the coast began to convert to Islam, many others retreated into the Atlas Mountains or further into the Sahara. Arab minorities established autocratic regimes in Algeria and Morocco. The Christian states of Alwa and Maqurra, in the territory of present-day Sudan, also fell into Arab hands, while only the Christian kingdom of Nobatia was strong enough to resist the invaders and imposed a treaty that secured its independence for 600 years. Along the coast, the Arab conquerors remained a small ruling minority for several centuries.

Trade across the Sahara, practiced for millennia, received new impetus during the 8th century. Caravan leaders and religious men spread new political, religious, and social values ​​among the peoples they encountered along the way. Muslims also penetrated Africa from Yemen and founded a series of city-states such as Adal and Harar: the Red Sea thus became a domain of Muslim merchants.

Numerous rival dynasties emerged on the coast of North Africa. In the 8th century, North African Muslims conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula. At the time of the Crusades, a few highly advanced Islamic states dominated the southern and eastern Mediterranean. In the 14th century, Christian Sudan was defeated by the Mamluk armies of Egypt. Egypt, in turn, was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517; however, real power remained in the hands of the Mamluks, who ruled the country until 1798, when they were defeated by Napoleon I. The Ethiopians were overwhelmed by the forces of the Sultanate of Adal, but in 1542 they defeated the Muslims with the help of Portugal.

West Africa

Numerous kingdoms arose in West Africa, specifically in the Sahel region; their economy was based on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes. Gold and slaves, coming from the regions further south, were traded for textiles, tools, salt, and weapons that arrived from the north.

Ghana

The first of these states, the Kingdom of Ghana, arose around the 5th century AD in the territory of present-day Mauritania. In the 11th century, Ghana seized control of the trade routes extending from Morocco in the north to the coastal forests and gold-producing areas of West Africa in the south. The Berber nomads of the Sanhaja confederation (the central part of present-day Mauritania) represented the main link between Ghana and the regions to the north. After the conquest of the northwestern African coasts, the Arabs began to exploit these trade routes. At the beginning of the 11th century, the court of Ghana included Muslim advisors and numerous Muslim merchants who lived in large foreign quarters from which they conducted thriving trade. At the end of the 11th century, the Kingdom of Ghana was conquered by the Almoravids, who later also advanced north to conquer Morocco and Spain. During the 12th century, the Sosso kingdom of Fouta Djallon, formerly a vassal of Ghana, gained supremacy in the region, but fell under the rule of the Mali Empire around 1240.

Mali and Songhai

Located around the upper reaches of the Senegal and Niger rivers, the Mali Empire developed at the beginning of the 11th century from a group of Mandé tribes. In the mid-13th century, the state experienced a period of expansion under the leadership of the ruler Sundjata Keita and converted to Islam. The Mali Empire reached its zenith under Musa, who made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324-25, established diplomatic relations with Tunis and Egypt, and brought numerous Muslim scholars and artisans to the empire; from the time of Musa onwards, Mali appeared on geographical maps. After 1400, the empire declined, and the Songhai emerged as the leading state in western Sudan (Sahel region).

The greatest expansion of this state coincided with the reigns of Sonni Ali and Askia Muhammad; during the latter's reign, Islam flourished at court, and Timbuktu became one of the main centers of Islamic culture, famous for its university and book trade. Attracted by the kingdom's wealth, the armies of al-Mansur of Morocco annihilated Gao, the capital of Songhai, in 1591. Following the collapse of Songhai, numerous small kingdoms – Macina, Gonja, Ségou, Kaarta – attempted to establish dominance over western Sudan, but this only resulted in permanent conflicts and economic decline.

The Hausa States and Kanem-Bornu

To the east of Songhai, between the Niger River and Lake Chad, the Hausa city-states and the kingdom of Kanem-Bornu arose and developed. The Hausa states (Biram, Daura, Katsina, Zaria, Kano, Rano, and Gobir) originated before the 10th century; after the fall of Songhai, trans-Saharan trade shifted eastward, where it came under the control of Katsina and Kano. These cities became centers of flourishing trade and prosperous urban life. Islam was introduced to the Hausa states in the 14th century.

The kingdom of Kanem-Bornu already existed in the 8th century as a state with an uncertain structure, north and east of Lake Chad. Initially, it was ruled by a nomadic population, the Zaghawa, who were later overthrown by the Saifawa dynasty. The new rulers converted to Islam in the 11th century. At the end of the 14th century, driven by the invasion of the region by the Bulala, the sultans of Kanem moved to Bornu. The most famous ruler of Bornu was Idris Aluma (1580-1617). At its height, the Kanem-Bornu controlled the trade routes of the eastern Sahara, connecting Central Africa to Libya and Egypt; however, its slow decline began in the mid-17th century.

Spread of Islam

During the era of the great Sudanese empires (10th-16th centuries), the lives of farmers, herders, and fishermen remained virtually unchanged, and they continued to practice traditional religions. Islam spread in the large urban centers, among the upper classes and foreigners. From the end of the 15th century, the preaching of the nomadic Arab Kunta began, and in the mid-16th century, the Qadiriyyah Sufi orders began to spread Islam throughout western Sudan. Around the same time, the Fulani, a nomadic pastoral people, migrated eastward from the Senegalese region of Futa Toro, gaining many converts to Islam. However, Islam suffered a certain decline among the ruling classes, so much so that non-Islamic dynasties ruled in some old Muslim strongholds until the 18th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Islam regained strength in Futa Toro and other African regions, often as a reaction to European colonial penetration, and spread among the Fulani, Mandingo, Soso, and Tukolor peoples. After overthrowing the old dynasties, theocratic states arose that spread Islam to new regions. In the Hausa states, Usuman dan Fodio led a Fulani revolt, which, between 1804 and 1810, drove out the Hausa rulers and gave rise to new dynasties. However, an attempt to invade Bornu met with successful resistance from the religious leader al-Kanemi. After Usuman's death, power passed to his son Muhammad Bello (1817). Another theocratic state was formed in Macina in 1818 by Seku Ahmadu, who launched a "jihad" against the animist Bambara people and created a kingdom that encompassed the entire Niger River region, from Djenné to Timbuktu. After his death in 1844, he was succeeded by his son, but in 1862 the state fell into the hands of another Islamic reformer, al-Hajj Umar, who created the vast Tukolor empire in the Senegal region before dying in 1864.

East Africa

The first historical records of East Africa appear in the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* (compiled by a Greek sailor around 100 AD), which describes the economic life of the region and its ties to the world beyond Africa. During the first millennium of the Christian era, Indonesian immigrants reached the coasts of Madagascar, introducing new crops, particularly bananas, and new irrigation systems. Bantu-speaking peoples settled in the immediate interior, organizing themselves into clans and assimilating the Khoisan peoples. Arab merchants settled on the coast, initiating the export of gold, ivory, and slaves, and later founded several city-states, including Mogadishu, Malindi, Lamu, Mombasa, Kilwa, Pate, and Sofala. The ruling classes were composed of Arab-Indo-African mixed-race people; the population was of Bantu ethnicity, mostly reduced to slavery. These mercantile city-states were oriented towards the sea, and their political influence on the inland peoples was practically non-existent until the 19th century.

The complex and advanced states of the Great Lakes region experienced their first developments in the 14th century, but very little is known about their earlier history. According to some, Cushitic peoples descended from the Ethiopian highlands to dominate the indigenous Bantu peoples. It is believed that the Cushites are the ancestors of the Tutsi peoples of the modern-day states of Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. Located between Lake Victoria and Lake Edward, the first kingdoms flourished before 1500, when they were overwhelmed by a first wave of Luo peoples from Sudan. Among the great states that formed in the region, Bunyoro was the most powerful until the second half of the 18th century. Later, the expansion of Buganda began; a complex centralized bureaucracy was then established, under which most of the district chiefs and territorial organizations were appointed by the king (the "kabaka").

Further south, in Rwanda and Burundi, an aristocracy of Tutsi cattle herders dominated the Bantu peoples from the 16th century onwards.

Central Africa

Starting in the 9th century, Bantu-speaking peoples founded farming communities in the Congolese savanna. In some regions, trade developed with the east coast, especially in copper and ivory. During the 14th century, the Kingdom of Kongo was founded, dominating a region of present-day Angola, between the Congo and Loge rivers and between the Cuango (Kwango) river and the Atlantic Ocean. Here, a complex political system developed, headed by numerous provincial governors and, ultimately, by a sovereign chosen from among the descendants of the founding king Wene.

In the area between the upper course of the Kasai River and Lake Tanganyika, around 1500, the small Bantu kingdoms were united by the mythical leader Nkongolo into an empire. However, the lack of adequate centralizing mechanisms led to repeated dynastic struggles and divisions among the states. Around 1600, a young heir to the dynasty left the kingdom and founded the Lunda Empire, which was very short-lived. Members of the royal house then set out to conquer new territories and founded the kingdoms of Bemba, Kasanje, and Kazembe. The latter, the largest and most powerful of the Luba-Lunda states, dominated southern Shaba and parts of the Zimbabwean plateau between 1750 and 1850.

Southern Africa

Oral tradition and archaeology do not allow for a precise understanding of the settlement of Southern Africa. The Shona, descendants of the Karanga, formed various kingdoms starting in the 11th century, particularly the Kingdom of Zimbabwe. They later organized themselves into various federations, the most notable of which is the Kingdom of Mwene Mutapa, whose prosperity was based on gold and copper trade. At its height in the 16th century, the kingdom's influence extended from the Zambezi River to the Kalahari Desert, the Indian Ocean, and the Limpopo River.

Before the 19th century, some Bantu-speaking peoples had driven out or assimilated Khoisan populations and established numerous states. At the beginning of the 19th century, demographic pressure and the outbreak of famines led to a series of wars and large-scale migrations (the Mfecane) that involved all of Southern and Central Africa. The Mfecane began around 1816, when the Zulu king Shaka developed new military techniques and engaged in wars of conquest against neighboring peoples. The defeated tribes migrated from the southeastern regions of Southern Africa and, having learned new battle techniques from the Zulus, annihilated peoples living in more remote regions, who in turn were forced to seek new lands. The Ndwandwe, led by Sobhuza, pushed north where, around 1820, they founded the Swazi kingdom. The Ngoni also moved north, crossing Mozambique and passing beyond Lake Malawi; in 1848 they established five kingdoms that carried out repeated raids between Lake Victoria and the Zambezi River. Another group, led by Soshangane, migrated to southern Mozambique, where they founded the state of Gaza around 1830. The Kololo migrated north, where they clashed with the Lozi. The Ndebele moved west (1824-1834) and north (1837) into the region of present-day Zimbabwe, founding a kingdom in Matabeleland.

European Imperialism

With Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese began the exploration of the African coasts. Numerous expeditions were organized starting in 1420, and each expanded knowledge of the African coast southward until, in 1497-98, Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope.

The Portuguese explorations were driven by several impulses: a thirst for knowledge, a desire for conquest, the search for potential allies against the Islamic threat, and the hope of discovering new and lucrative trade routes to the East. The Portuguese were followed by the English, French, and Dutch, who disrupted existing economic and political systems. They faced hardships and began exploiting the resources of the African regions and engaging in the slave trade.

Trade Routes

The Portuguese founded numerous trading posts along the West African coast; the main one was El Mina, established on the Gold Coast in 1482. In fact, Europeans believed that only this area and the regions of Congo and Luanda were favorable for trade. Gold, ivory, foodstuffs, and African slaves were exchanged for iron, firearms, and textiles. The Portuguese attracted merchants from other European countries, who, in the 16th century, created new trading posts or tried to monopolize existing trade routes.

In West Africa, these new developments in trade had considerable repercussions. Previously, trade routes were directed north, across the Sahara, mainly towards the Muslim world; subsequently, the flow of trade began to shift towards the coast, and as the savanna states declined economically, the coastal states increased their wealth and power. They quickly came into conflict with each other for control of the trade routes and for the acquisition of the new firearms introduced by the Europeans.

The Slave Trade

With the beginning of the slave trade to the Americas, the conflicts over the control of African trade intensified. During the four centuries in which the slave trade was practiced, millions upon millions of Africans were victims of this trafficking in human lives. The first important kingdom to profit from the slave trade was Benin. From the end of the 17th century, it was supplanted by the kingdoms of Dahomey and Oyo.

By the mid-18th century, the Ashanti had risen to become the main African power. During the reign of the Asantehene (king) Osei Kojo (1764-1777), Ashanti armies pushed towards the European trading posts located along the Gold Coast. They secured regular supplies of firearms, which they used to expand northwards and fight against Dahomey for control of the eastern frontiers. Further east, the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo declined at the end of the 18th century, with the outbreak of civil war and the intervention of Fulani forces from the north. Around 1835 the imperial capital was abandoned, and in the Battle of Oshogbo (c. 1840) the Fulani were repelled. The civil wars lasted until 1893, when the Yoruba kingdom disintegrated into numerous rival states.

At the turn of the 18th century, Great Britain began to adopt an attitude against the slave trade, and after the Mansfield ruling of 1772, Great Britain decided to establish a colony in West Africa for former slaves. The first attempt (1787-1790) at St George's Bay (in present-day Sierra Leone) failed; a second attempt was made by abolitionists who, in 1787, founded Freetown. After prohibiting the slave trade in 1807, the British made Freetown a useful base for conducting naval operations against this trade; in 1808 Sierra Leone became a British Crown colony. The example of Sierra Leone attracted Americans interested in the emancipation of blacks, and in early 1822, the American Colonization Society founded a colony, Liberia, at nearby Cape Mesurado. ====British Expansion====

The British design to suppress the slave trade (for both humanitarian and economic reasons: slaves provided competitors with cheap labor) found expression in attempts to reorient African trade towards other exports, such as palm oil, in strengthening missionary activity, and in imposing British law on territories previously held by British merchants. These developments often involved the United Kingdom in conflicts with African states and led it to declare its sovereignty over increasing portions of territory. In 1821, the British government assumed control of a series of fortifications in the Gold Coast. Two years later, the first of a series of wars between the British and the Ashanti broke out, lasting until 1826; these conflicts would continue for a long time: the British only managed to permanently subdue the Ashanti in 1900. In the Niger Delta, in Nigeria, the abolition of slavery led to the development of the palm oil trade and the need to establish a port; the British were also anxious to remove slave traders from the delta states (Calabar, Bonny, and Brass). Consequently, in 1852, they forced the ruler of Lagos to accept British protection, and in 1861 Lagos was annexed by the United Kingdom as a crown colony.

Central and East Africa

In Central and East Africa, European influence had diverse consequences. Arriving on the Congolese and Angolan coast towards the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese immediately allied themselves with the rulers of Congo, who converted to Christianity and attempted to create a state inspired by Western institutions. Their plan failed due to fratricidal wars and the introduction of the slave trade by the Portuguese. The region soon became the scene of fierce conflicts, and during the 16th century, the kingdom collapsed. Further south, the Portuguese founded Luanda in 1575 and used it as a base to penetrate the interior of Angola; approximately half of the slaves sent to the Americas came from this region. Upon arriving on the East African coast, the Portuguese attempted to disrupt the trade flow to the Muslim world, resulting in the destruction of many city-states, the occupation of others, and a profound economic crisis throughout the region.

In 1698, the East African coast returned to the rule of local leaders, but during the 18th century, it came under the control of the Sultans of Oman. At the beginning of the 19th century, Sultan Sayyid Said, ruler of Oman, transferred the seat of the sultanate to Zanzibar, which was subsequently used to strengthen control over the coast, penetrate the interior, and trade with the states of the Great Lakes region. British attempts to control the slave trade in East Africa, which was less significant than the trade managed by Europeans in West Africa, culminated in a treaty signed in 1822 that prohibited the sale of slaves to subjects of Christian countries. However, the treaty did not end the trade: many Africans were captured and destined for the clove plantations in Zanzibar and the markets of the Middle East.

In Ethiopia, the arrival of the Portuguese had hindered the Muslim conquest. In 1542, the Ethiopians repelled the Muslims with the help of the Portuguese, who, in 1632, following religious disputes, were expelled from the Ethiopian kingdom. Subsequently, Ethiopia entered a period of isolation and decline and was fragmented into a series of small kingdoms ruled by local lords (the so-called "ras"). Theodore II, with the help of the clergy, subdued most of the feudal lords in 1855 and founded an empire.

Southern Africa

The Portuguese largely ignored Southern Africa, but their rivals, the Dutch, from 1652 onwards, developed the area as a stopover on the route to the Indies. For a short period, settlers were encouraged to settle around Cape Town; thus, a new culture and a new people, the Boers or Afrikaners, developed. Despite the opposition of the London government, the Boers began to penetrate the interior in search of better lands and, after 1815, to escape British control. During these incursions, they encountered the Zulu and other Bantu peoples with whom they came into conflict over the possession of territories. During their migrations, the Boers were among the first white people to explore the interior regions of Africa.

The Partition of the Continent

At the end of the 18th century, interest in science and the search for new markets spurred a new era of exploration. The British explorer James Bruce reached the source of the Blue Nile in 1770, while his compatriot Mungo Park explored (1795 and 1805) the course of the Niger River. The German explorer Heinrich Barth ventured into the western part of the Sudanese Sahel, while the Scottish missionary David Livingstone explored the Zambezi River and in 1855 named the waterfalls Victoria Falls, which the local population called Musi-oa-Tunya ("the smoke that thunders"). Following (and sometimes preceding) the explorers were Christian missionaries, and in their wake, merchants.

The expansion of European private interests in Africa corresponded to greater involvement of their governments. The French began the conquest of Algeria and Senegal in the first decades of the 19th century, but the systematic occupation of tropical Africa only occurred in the second half of the century. In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium established the International Congo Association, a private company for the exploration and colonization of the region, directed by Henry Morton Stanley. From 1880 to 1905, much of Africa was divided among Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Portugal. From 1884, the strong rivalry between the European powers seeking further territorial acquisitions and the poorly defined boundaries of their various territories posed a threat to international relations. To resolve these problems, the Berlin Conference was convened, attended by delegates from European nations and the United States.

At the Congress of Berlin (1884-85), the European powers defined their spheres of influence and established the rules for the future occupation of the African coasts and for navigation on the Congo and Niger rivers. A rule was also established according to which, when a power acquired new territories in Africa or assumed a protectorate over a region of the continent, it had to notify the other signatory powers. During the following 15 years, the European nations signed numerous treaties, which implemented and modified the provisions of the conference. Two were signed by Great Britain in 1890: the first, with Germany, delimited the spheres of influence of the two powers in Africa; the second, with France, recognized British interests in the region between Lake Chad and the Niger River and legitimized French influence in the Sahara. Other agreements, in particular those between Great Britain and Italy in 1891, between France and Germany in 1894, and between Great Britain and France in 1899, further defined the limits of the various European companies operating in Africa.

African Resistance

No African state was present at the Berlin Congress, and none of them were among the signatories of the agreements that resulted from it. When possible, the decisions made in Europe were resisted when they were applied on African soil. The French faced a revolt in Algeria (1870) and encountered strong resistance (1881-1905) in their attempts to control the Sahara. In western Sudan, the Mandinka ruler Samory Touré and Ahmadu, the son and successor of al-Hajj Umar of the Tukolor state, tried to maintain their independence, but both were defeated by the French: Ahmadu in 1893 and Samory five years later. Dahomey was occupied by French forces in 1892; The Wadai region was the last to fall into French hands in 1900.

British administrators encountered similar resistance from the Boers and Zulus in Southern Africa in 1880-81 and 1899-1902 (Anglo-Boer War). British and Boer settlers conquered Matabeleland in 1893, and three years later, both the Matabele (Ndebele) and Shona rebelled. Revolts broke out repeatedly in the Ashanti region and Sierra Leone (1897) in 1893-94, 1895-96, and 1900. The British conquest of the Fulani-Hausa states also met with resistance (1901-1903). Sokoto revolted in 1906. The Germans faced the Herero uprising in South-West Africa (1904-1908).

Only the Ethiopians, led by Emperor Menelik II (reigning 1889-1909), successfully resisted European conquest, annihilating the Italian troops at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.

African Nationalism

Once the territories were conquered and pacified, the European administrations began developing transportation systems to facilitate the shipment of raw materials from the interior regions for export; the colonial powers also established tax systems that required payment in kind or through forms of unpaid labor for infrastructure construction. Both of these policies were well underway when World War I broke out. During the conflict, the German territories in West and South-West Africa were conquered and subsequently entrusted under mandate by the League of Nations to the various Allied powers. Thousands of Africans were conscripted or employed as porters by the Allied armies. Opposition to the war was limited to the short-lived rebellion of John Chilembwe (1915), an African priest, in Nyasaland (now Malawi).

After World War I, the exploitation of the colonies was mitigated by efforts to provide the populations with education and basic social services. However, colonies with white settlements, such as Algeria, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and Kenya, were granted significant self-governing bodies. Southern Rhodesia became a British colony with its own autonomous government in 1923, but Africans did not have the right to vote.

In the years between the two world wars, numerous African protest and nationalist movements began to emerge, initiated by groups of Western-educated Africans, but only in Algeria and Egypt did mass parties arise. Ethiopia, which had successfully resisted European colonization, lost its freedom due to the Italian invasion of 1936 and did not regain independence until after World War II. With the outbreak of the war, Africans fought in the Allied armies, and the colonies supported their cause. Fighting on the continent, limited to the northern and northeastern regions, ended in May 1943.

The New Africa

After World War II, the European colonial powers emerged economically and psychologically weakened, while the international role of the US and Soviet superpowers had grown. In the French colonies of North Africa, a strong nationalist movement developed from 1947 onwards. The Algerian revolution began in 1954 and continued until 1962, the year the country gained independence, which had already been achieved by Morocco and Tunisia in 1956. In French Sub-Saharan Africa, President Charles de Gaulle had tried to prevent nationalist movements by granting the inhabitants of the overseas territories full citizenship status and allowing deputies and senators from each territory to sit in the French Parliament. However, the limitations on the right to vote and representation for each territory proved unacceptable.

In the British colonies, the pace of change accelerated after the war. Mass parties began to appear, encompassing the widest possible range of social, ethnic, and economic groups. In Sudan, disagreements between Egypt and Great Britain regarding the direction of Sudanese self-government led the British to grant independence in 1954. During the 1950s, the examples of newly independent nations, the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, and the skill of some popular African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah produced new impulses for independence. Ghana gained independence in 1957, Guinea in 1958. In 1960 alone, seventeen sovereign African nations were born.

By the end of the 1970s, almost all of Africa was independent. The Portuguese possessions – Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique – finally gained independence in 1974-75, after years of violent conflict. France relinquished the Comoros Islands in 1975, and Djibouti gained independence in 1977. In 1976, Spain abandoned Spanish Sahara, which was then divided between Mauritania and Morocco; however, a fierce war for independence continued there. Mauritania ceded its portion in 1979, but Morocco, taking control of the entire territory, continued to fight the local Polisario Front.

Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980. The last major colonial possession on the continent, Namibia, achieved independence in 1990. But it was not until 1994 that the black majority in South Africa obtained its "independence" through a democratically elected government.

Africa emerged from the colonial period in a situation of serious economic, political, and social crisis. Furthermore, most African countries retained the borders arbitrarily drawn at the end of the 19th century by European diplomats and administrators. In many cases, ethnic groups were divided by national borders, and loyalty to ethnic groups was often much stronger than loyalty to the state: the immediate consequence was the outbreak of violent rebellions and ethnic conflicts in many countries (for example, the Biafran War).

To avoid ethnic conflicts and try to maintain internal stability, many of the new democracies soon became authoritarian one-party regimes, whose survival depended on the financial and military support of the superpowers. African regimes, however, were characterized by extreme instability and frequent changes of power through bloody military coups.

Economic development also represented an insurmountable problem for the new Africa. Although African states possessed considerable natural resources, few had the financial means necessary to develop their economies. Foreign private companies often considered investments in these unstable regions too risky, and the only possibility for many African countries to access credit was to turn to industrialized countries and international financial institutions, with whom they contracted enormous debts, which ended up greatly hindering their already limited possibilities for economic and social development; in the 1980s, the repayment of these loans led many African economies to near bankruptcy.

Recent Developments

Meanwhile, the expectations of African nations for a better standard of living have increased. While the price of goods and other imported products has risen steadily, the same has not happened for the price of most major African products on world markets. The global recession of the early 1980s multiplied the difficulties that had begun with the increase in oil prices in the 1970s. Serious problems in international trade and the burden of foreign debt aggravated popular discontent. In the 1980s, famine and Droughts have affected the central and northern regions of the continent, forcing millions of refugees to leave their homelands in search of food, exacerbating the problems of the countries that have taken them in.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, prolonged local conflicts in Chad, Somalia, Sudan, the Sahara region, Southern Africa, and throughout the continent caused government destabilization, halted economic progress, and resulted in the loss of thousands of lives. At the end of the civil war in Ethiopia in 1991, an autonomous government was formed in Eritrea, which declared the country's independence in 1993. In April 1994, after the death of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in a plane crash, fierce conflicts erupted between the two main ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi.

Due to its precarious institutions and the prolonged severe economic crisis, Africa's international political weight has further diminished, and the continent is currently experiencing, on the one hand, a violent clash of economic and cultural interests between the United States and France, and on the other hand, the attempt of Islamic fundamentalism to impose its hegemony in various countries.

In the early 1990s, the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa under Nelson Mandela sparked new hopes on the African continent, which, however, will have to contend not only with the critical continental reality but also with a difficult international economic and political situation.

Fun Facts

• Africa is the hottest continent in the world, but the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is often covered in snow.
• Lake Assal in Djibouti is the lowest point in Africa and is located approximately 155 meters below sea level.
• There are over 25,000 species of plants in Africa, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world.
• The largest city in Africa is Cairo, Egypt, with a population of over 20 million inhabitants.
• Africa is home to some of the world's largest nature reserves, including Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Serengeti in Tanzania.
• The Nile River, the longest river in the world, flows through 11 African countries.
• It is estimated that approximately 90% of the world's diamonds come from Africa.
• The city of Timbuktu in Mali was an important cultural and commercial center in the Middle Ages and was home to one of the world's first universities.